K-9 Taylor responded to shooting at Arapahoe High School

DENVER, CO – MARCH 27: Taylor “Tay Tay” is pet by attendees of her retirement party at the Denver City and County Building on Wednesday, March 27, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. “Tay Tay” is retiring from the K9 Explosion Detection unit after six and a half years of service. (Photo by Rachel Woolf/Special to the Denver Post)K9RetiresDP-GDT-032819

For nearly seven years, Denver sheriff’s K-9 Taylor has protected U.S. presidents visiting the Front Range and sniffed for bombs after horrific attacks.

But arthritis has started to hamper the 8-year-old chocolate Labrador’s back hips. Grey fur has grown on her muzzle — earning her the nickname “Sugar Lips” from her handler, Deputy Patrick Hynes. On Wednesday, Taylor reported Wednesday for her last day of work at the sheriff’s office before her retirement.

Taylor — affectionately called Tay Tay by her family — has secured buildings for visiting dignitaries like Hillary Clinton, the Dalai Lama and President Donald Trump, Hynes said. As one of the department’s longest-serving K-9s, she’s worked innumerable sports and community events, where she loved to goof around with children.

But Taylor also knew how to focus in intense situations, Hynes said. She searched for bombs in the hallways of Arapahoe High School in 2013 after a student murdered a peer and lobbed a Molotov cocktail in the school library. She secured a Thornton Walmart in 2017 after a man opened fire inside and killed three people.

“She loved her job,” Hynes said. “If it were up to her, she’d keep going.”